


Unrelenting Fate

by keimichi



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, BAMF Sawada Tsunayoshi, Be Careful What You Wish For, Character Development, Dark Sawada Tsunayoshi, Drama, Everyone Has Issues, Everyone Is Smart, Gen, Mind Games, Mystery, No OCs, Psychological, Rating May Change due to violence, Smart Sawada Tsunayoshi, Tsuna is plotting, Tsuna-Centric, the violence is just not graphic... YET
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-05-15 06:00:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5774029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keimichi/pseuds/keimichi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>The Mafia world was hatred. </i>
</p><p> </p><p>  <i>Tsuna knew. </i></p><p>  <i>He had long known it—before the mafia knocked on his door, before he stared into the pitch black eyes of his new tutor. </i></p><p><i>He knew it too well, when the baby introduced himself as Reborn.</i><br/> </p><p>(If Reborn expected to train a naive and weak boy into the next boss of the Vongola, Tsuna, however, has his own agenda. Dark!Tsuna)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Normal

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, Kei here.  
> This story is a rewrite of the version I posted on fanfiction.net  
> For new readers, I would suggest against reading the old version. While there are little change in the first few chapters, it will eventually make the later chapters different from the earlier chapters I've written. For old readers, the overall plot is still the same as the one I've originally planned, I'm simply soothing the wrinkles a bit and hopefully make the characters even more interesting. 
> 
> I will eventually start posting the rewrite to FFN once I accumulate a few more rewritten chapters. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the story.
> 
> Warning for violence, gore and other stuff in later chapters. This is a dark!AU, some chapters much darker than others.

_He was alone._

_That was the first thing that registered in his mind._

_He could hear the floor cracking under his own footsteps, and he immediately recognized it to be abnormal. This calmness—it didn't suit the place. Every time he had been here, it had always been noisy and chaotic. He would hear the men shouting at one another in another pointless argument, he would hear his Onii-chan going on about things he definitely had no clue about while his guardian reprimanded him. One-chan would then chase him through the halls, too, while he laughed. There was also the soft sound of wind chimes he could miraculously hear over other noise such as party poppers or firefox and shouts of excitements or..._

_Not complete silence._

_Why? Where was everyone else?_

_His surrounding blurred. He had stopped registering what was happening around him. He ignored the crimson glow that leaked from the darkness as his heart urged him to look for them, for them, for any sign of them! He faintly felt his throat knotting but that was not important anymore as any sound died down before it could reach his throat._

_After a while, his hesitant footsteps brought him in front of the place he was looking for. Slowly, he peeked through the door of his Onii-chan's room._

_"Onii-chan?"_

_Silence greeted him back. He didn't give up, sliding open the door to reveal a messy room in the darkness. The customary odor of expired meat and empty dishes was weirdly welcoming. Despite the darkness, he could still see the piles of items lying around, the objects well-stacked together and yet so messy in as a pile. Somehow, despite the uneasy tug on his heart, the messiness was a comfort to him._

_He walked towards the giant window in order to open the curtains and let in the light. There was nothing to worry about, it seemed, because everything was unchanged, because it was—_

_He stepped on something wet and warm._

_And then, he made the mistake of looking down._

* * *

 

**Unrelenting Fate**

by Keimichi

**Chapter 0: Normal**

* * *

 

"Ara, you're up early today."

She made a simple statement because more often than not he was the type to oversleep. A whole half hour early, actually, she noticed as she glanced at the clock.

"Nightmare?"

He nodded.

His mother didn't question him about it.

He slowly are breakfast, taking the time to enjoy each bite of the toast while his mother made more food while humming happily. Neither of them were actually talking, but it was amazing how much he took comfort in these kind of silence. It helped him smooth out his thoughts while he slowly finished breakfast.

Time went by pretty fast, and before he knew it, he had finished breakfast... and took longer than intended and was now late! He waved a quick goodbye to his mother, grabbed his stuff as he rushed out the door.

He ran as quickly as he could on the way to school to get inside the class before the evil bell. He bypassed the "security" without any problem and made it safely to the classroom. He was only a foot away that the bell rang, surprising him so much that he face planted on the floor. A bunch of snickers could be heard from the class, but he was more worried about the teacher than his classmates. Luckily for him, it seemed like the teacher was late. He panted while letting out a sigh of relief and scuffed towards his seat: he had evaded the clutch of death once again.

(Or in this case, the death's "fangs"—because his school's personal death god wears a disciplinary committee armband and "bite" people with a pair of tonfas).

He slid himself on his chair and took out and placed his text book. He though he heard a taunt or two directed at him, but brushed it off because Nezu-sensei came in and started his math class.

(Math class was about some algebra and other stuff, the boy didn't even bother to listen at all. Instead, he simply allowed himself to drift into the comforts of dreamland and ignored everything else.)

Like any other day of the past five years, it was just another ordinary day for a most ordinary boy named Sawada Tsunayoshi.

* * *

 

_"Onee-chan, why do you hate Onii-chan?" Curious caramel eyes stared at two older figures, one male, one female, in front of him. The two stopped their one sided conversation to look at the little brown haired boy that spoke to them._

_"Haha! What are you saying, Tsuna-chan? She doesn't hate-" The older male teen dodged a few flying dangerous objects. "-me at all! Am I right?" He turned to the girl who was sitting on the opposite side and flashed a wide grin. The girl's bangs made it hard to read her expression, but it wasn't hard to know what she was thinking when she held up all the array of sharp objects ready to be used on his Onii-chan._

_Tsuna sweatdropped as he watched the daily scene replay in front of him. If it was his first time meeting them, he would have been scared to death. But by now he had long understood that they were sorely directed at his Onii-chan. In other words, Tsuna himself risked nothing. And even if one of them was to accidentally fly closer to him than usual, Guardian-san would make sure that nothing happened to the young boy._

_Looking at this, Tsuna couldn't help but to smile. It made him feel warm inside. It was a different kind of warmth than that of his gentle mother. Somehow, it made him glad that he was, somehow, also part of their little group._

* * *

 

Lunch bell was his alarm clock. Faintly yawning while his dream—a sweet memory— replayed at the back of his head, he reached and pulled up his bento from inside his desk.

His gaze swept across the classroom; it seemed that none of his usual friends were in sight. Normally, his friends would approach him and kindly ask him to share part of the lunch, for the sake of friendship. It was just an ordinary interaction between guys his age, and it was the proof that he was just another faceless boy in the crowd of middle school students.

He was thankful for his relationship with his friends, at least. "Dame-Tsuna" was the nickname he had earned himself, and it was something his class would still endlessly tease him about. So being able to have friends despite of his reputation as a useless person was something he should be grateful for. It made him blend in much more, made him stand out less as the class clown and gave him the opportunity to live a normal life.

The brunet opened his lunch box and was just about to pop a piece of the deliciously made meal inside his mouth, when three voices cracked up from behind.

His mouth twitched. Today _was_ a normal day after all.

He looked up and his eyes met purple ones. The one in front of him was a largely built boy with short black hair. The others were simply packing up and eager to go home. _'Inoue Chikage, the leader of his little gang of three,'_ Tsuna thought. _'Actually... Make that four, since I'm technically part of their gang.'_

Three month— that was how long since they became 'friends'. (And Tsuna indeed counted. He kept track of each day they were friends. If anyone else had known, they might have thought Tsuna was weird... But for him, he enjoyed noting down everyday, to remember what happened everyday...)

Inoue's gang weren't the best choice of friends. There were rumors, more than just a few, about the nasty things they have done, but there were no definite proof about that. And like any other rumors, those were stiffed down quite quickly for people to care.

"Yo! Dame-Tsuna! Eating without us again? How rude. Are you ignoring us even though friends should eat together?"

"Haha… I'm sorry! It wasn't my intention! I just got a bit too hungry and-"

"No worries, right guys? Let's just have some fun eating lunch on the roof!" Inoue laughed while he passed an arm around Tsuna. The other two boys grinned at each other, enjoying the situation. Tsuna only gave them the same weak smile he normally did while he shifted under the uncomfortably friendly display.

He knew what came next of course.

It has already become a typical interaction between them.

As soon as Tsuna was dragged on to the roof, he was painfully pinned to the wall by one of the boys, Murase Noriyori, a skinny and tall guy with a weirdly stretched out face. Meanwhile, Inoue and the other guy named Suzuki Seiki was merrily enjoying Tsuna's lunch.

"Now, now, let's have some fun." Murase smirked, his face only a few inches away front the small brunet's.

"I didn't mean to! Really!" Tsuna panicked, his shaky voice pleading his _friend_ , eyes widening in an absolute display of fear. However, far from hesitating, this only seemed to please Murase even more. Behind, Inoue and Suzuki laughed mockingly.

"Hey! Nori!" Inoue yelled at Murase. "That's lame! Try something new today!"

"Like what?"

" _You know_!"

"Oh! You mean like _those_ times! " the tall and skinny guy laughed, finally understanding what they meant. "…But this is at school! What if..."

"Don't worry. We'll take of it after. It's not like we haven't done this before. No one comes here anyway. Besides, it's lunchtime so _he_ 's not here."

"Yeah, I guess you're right!"

The next thing Tsuna knew, Murase "Nori" was inning his wrists above his head with one hand, while fumbling open Tsuna's shirt with the other.

" ** _HIIIIIIIEEEEE!!_** "

The piercingly loud shriek annoyed the attacker to no end. In response, "Nori" tried to muffle Tsuna's mouth, but was unfortunately bitten by a now clearly panicking Tsuna. With the bully clutching his hand in pain, the victim surprisingly took this opportunity to push the taller boy off. Tsuna's attempt to ended in a failure when he quickly caught and pinned down by the two other boys.

"Che, not even capable of doing that, huh, 'Nori?" Inoue sneered at his lackey. "Fine, let me do it then."

Murase grumbled in discontentment, but didn't voice his thoughts to their group leader. Approaching, Inoue grinned widely and punched Tsuna's face hard enough to draw blood.

"Let us have some _fun_ together, dear _friend_."

Tsuna closed his eyes. He wasn't that stupid, he can guess what comes next. The smaller teen bowed his head, which the others took as submission. Tsuna stopped pleading, as if accepting his fate. After all, this was a _normal_ occurrence between _friends_ , right? The brunet's bangs were shadowing his face, making his expression unreadable.

The young teen felt hands roaming all on him, taking off his clothing. He could hear Murase telling Suzuki to take a picture. Humiliation. It was unclear if they wanted to blackmail him with the photo, or if they wanted to keep the photo as a sort of trophy. Probably both. He let it be. His hair was being pulled by a pair of hands, while another pair was pinning his legs so he won't move. He felt something being poured on him: water, spilled content of his lunch...

' _Please don't…_ '

Hands moved to his neck. He could feel them tightening around. _Death_ , his mind whispered, and he knew he was so close to— No, he _could_ n **o** _t!_ ** _Not_** — Tsuna wanted to shrink away from it... It will pass, he told himself. But those- He could also smell that stinking breath getting closer and _closer_ and **_closer_** and—

"For crowding and doing indecent acts in public, I'll bite you to death."

That one single sentence was enough to make Tsuna open his again. A split second later, the mass above him disappeared, only to reappear on the other side of the roof, sprawled on the floor. With a confused look, Tsuna sat up to see all three of his friends down, suffering from various degree of injuries. Almost unconsciously letting out a sigh of relief, Tsuna dusted himself and stood up, only to meet with the cold eyes of a certain prefect.

"Hi-Hibari-san…" the small teen shuttered in fear—the exact reaction any other student of Nami-middle had in front of the most feared teen in the whole town. Before Tsuna, with blood-stained tonfas in his hand, stood Hibari Kyoya, the head prefect of their school. His dark raven hair swayed in the wind, bangs sometimes shadowing his cold blue eyes. And fluttering in the wind was his black uniform jacket blaring the famous disciplinary committee's red and yellow arm band.

"Hn. It's illegal to crowd, herbivore," the older teen declared, eyes narrowing menacingly at the small herbivorous-like teen.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry for crowding! Please don't beat me!" the younger teen muttered, raising his hands to protect himself from the upcoming blow. But Tsuna wasn't hit.

"Don't crowd near those herbivores."

The brunet stopped trembling. His hands dropped to each side of his body. His bangs once again covered his face.

Hibari being Hibari, he picked up the change in behavior easily. The brunet from before had been what all herbivores do: plead for their pathetic lives. However, the one standing in front of him now emitted unreadable atmosphere akin to cold resignation, and _something else_.

Hibari watched as the herbivore picked up his empty lunch box and slowly walk towards the exit.

"Thank you for the concern, Hibari-san. _I'm sure they'll appreciate it_."

The smile the brunet sent Hibari was a genuine one.

And the door of the roof closed, leaving one musing prefect and three unconscious bodies.

As Tsuna descended towards his classroom, he noticed the happy chatters from around. One corner sat the school's baseball star, laughing with his friends. On the other, giggling with other girls was the school's idol. He couldn't help himself from envying them. He sat down and took out from the inner of his bag a brown small notebook. He flipped the pages and found the ones he had been looking for.

On each page, three of them, was one name of his friends. And right beside, there was a bunch of neatly aligned X's.

' _Sigh, I guess I'm the only one who have true knowledge of how far their antics goes…_ '

The X's almost filled the whole page for each of them. He took out a pencil and added one more X to each of the names. ' _That's one more X for what happened at lunch. I think I'll have to wait till I return home for some kind of food,_ ' he pouted, as his stomach grumbled because he hasn't ate anything yet.

The X's were the symbols of their friendship.

Good friends keep track of each other after all.

* * *

 

"Don't forget the project is due next week. Class is dismissed."

The room was instantly been filled with chatters of the dozens of student merrily packing up. Most of them started grouping with friends and discussing clubs and whatever thing they were planning to do for the weekends. Not Tsuna, though. He was alone (as always), with not a single person glancing to see him. He silently closed his book, gathered his school work and everything he would need for the weekend.

Sawada Tsunayoshi sighed as another day was done. Nothing had been a surprise anymore, he would just follow everything and everything would be fine. He packed his things while lost in thoughts, ready to slip away unnoticed. He knew it was impossible, of course. Even if by some unknown luck he could escape-

"Yo! Dame Tsuna! You're up for cleaning again!"

Tsuna cringed from the sound and stopped. There was no escaping at the daily routine. He turned at the expected voice to see three of his _friends_ grinning at him. The leader was holding an unwanted broom which he promptly shoved into Tsuna's hands.

"That's right, No-Good! For failing everything, you can at least do that one simple task right! Besides, we're feeling sick today because of what that bastard did."

"Yeah, that's right!"

"Ye-yes!" Tsuna answered hastily.

The three classmates just laughed.

"Don't worry, Dame Tsuna! We'll pay you back and replace you… someday! After all, that's what friends are for, right?" And like a signal all three of them burst into laughter as they disappeared from view, leaving him and the broom alone.

' _At least they aren't blaming me anymore about what happened today... I hope. I don't want to be beaten up again if I could. I wish really Hibari-san hadn't interfered. Things would have been much more simple that way. Hibari-san, despite what other say about you, you are nicer than they think you are..._ '

He sighed as he stared at the cleaning utensil in his hand, which glared back, as if daring him to let go. The contest lasted for a few seconds, before it finally ended with the same old victor as it always did. Once again having lost the glaring contest, the brunet just resigned himself for the class cleaning duty. It was his job, cleaning had become a custom. It wasn't the teacher 's fault; while the teacher didn't like him all that much, he still got assigned to the task as often as everyone else does. It's just that he happens to be the one people like to push their task onto. For a second, there had been a wry smile that flashed on his face, that bitter one full of loath and hatred for life; but everything vanished as quickly as it came and Tsuna became Dame again. It was not like this was an unusual part of his life anyway.

His three classmates, his _friends_ , were just a few of the whole bunch who would shove it in his face everyday. It wasn't bad at all, not really. He had long gotten used to it.

As custom, he temporarily put the broom away and plunged his hand in his messy school bag. He promptly took out the brown note book and flipped the pages, placing another X near the ones he had just scribbled a few hours ago. Then he tucked back to the bag where it belonged.

After a whole half an hour, he managed to finish his job, and was glad to finally be able to escape the dull place. He slipped his school bag on his shoulder and locked up the door. He fled quickly to prevent from running into any member of the Disciplinary Committee that would be just _glad_ to show him the way out.

He was glad that another normal day was over.

* * *

 

_He was standing in front of the door again, trembling and hesitating to open the door. This scene, it has repeated so many times. He could no longer tell which part of it was real and which part was from his imagination. Perhaps since the beginning, everything had been an illusion and he had only imagined everything. He couldn't tell which was the nightmare anymore: what was hidden behind the door or the world beyond the one he is now. He opened the door to find out._

_To find a way to wake up from this nightmare._

* * *

 

The sun was setting in the background, dyeing the sky in a beautiful shade of crimson. A few strings of cloud roamed freely. The lights were casting long shadows on the ground.

Walking home after school, Sawada Tsunayoshi found himself near a very familiar park. In a distant past, this park place had been one filled with sound and laughter, but by now it was deserted. He had fond memories in this park; both with his parents ( _"go on," his mom encouraged as she pushed him towards the swing when he was too shy_ ) and later with his Onii-chan ( _"Tsu-chan! Look at what I found!" his Onii-chan cheered with childish glee while he waved the prize_ ). But those time never lasted long enough; this park was the perfect proof that time eventually destroyed everything.

Tsuna absentmindedly glanced towards the deserted park. That's when he noticed three familiar silhouettes—silhouettes that shouldn't normally have been here.

He knew it wasn't possible... but... But! What if! his heart still stopped for a split second. _'Onii-chan? Onee-chan? Guardian-san? Did you come back?'_ They were finally coming back to him! They were back! They-

The three shadows turned.

"Well, well, if it isn't Dame-Tsuna," Inoue said.

Tsuna's shoulder sagged. As quickly as he felt into his delusion, he was brought back to reality.

' _That's right. Onii-chan and Onee-chan are gone. They are all gone and can never come back. Don't delude yourself, Sawada Tsunayoshi. You can't see them again._ '

"Whatcha doing here, Dame-Tsuna? Isn't it too late for you to be out here?"

A few second later, Tsuna found himself pinned to the playground floor once again, a bruise slowly forming on his cheek.

Inoue Chikage, Murase Noriyori, Suzuki Seiki—his friends.

"So, what do we do, boss?"

"Well, he still hasn't paid us back for what that bastard Hibari did to us, right?"

"No, boss."

They grinned.

"Then, let us teach a lesson to our _dear friend_."

Tsuna didn't say anything as they punched him. He didn't say anything as they destroyed his books, his homework. He didn't say anything as he encased their humiliations and name-calling.

' _Please don't do it._ ' That one sentence echoed through his mind, pleading, _pleading,_ pleading _so much_ , so much that Tsuna almost couldn't believe it was his own thought.

But Tsuna stayed silent in front of the bullies, and resigned himself to it. After all, it was nor _m **al**_ , right?

"Hey, what's this?"

"It's weird! Look at all these X's! And what are these names?"

"Let me see!"

Murase flipped through the small brown notebook he found inside Tsuna's belongings. The way his face twisted in am expression akin to bewilderment and disgust easily attracted his leader's attention. Inoue tore the book away from his subordinate's hand. Scowling, he flipped through the pages, then stopping when his gaze landed on three familiar names.

"Well, well, well. Is this what I think it is? A check list? Looks like someone was bearing a grudge against us."

His scowl slowly morphine into a twisted smile—one filled with anger and promised pain. He walked to Tsuna, grabbed him by the hair and shoved the book into Tsuna's face, painfully rubbing Tsuna on it.

On the page that Inoue 'showed' to Tsuna, there was the name Inoue Chikage, followed by hundreds and hundreds... no, perhaps thousands of little X's, each marked in red, literally almost completely filling up the page.

"I see you bear a grudge with us... That's not nice, Dame-Tsuna. I thought we were friends."

His smiled dropped and he banged Tsuna's head on the floor. "BUT I GUESS WE ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR DAME-TSUNA, HUH? YOU PIECE OF TRASH! **LEARN YOUR PLACE!** "

Blood was now dripping on the floor, tainting the concrete of the playground floor.

Inoue let Tsuna go. The smaller student stayed face down on the ground, unmoving. The bully stared at the book for a while, before he ripped out the pages that had the names of his and his gang and tossed the notebook aside without care. He dropped the pages on the ground and stepped on it.

"You're like all those other trash we played with before. Losers like you only waste space. Just like those old geezers we took care of yesterday. Why are you all even alive? The world will be a much better place without people like you. At least that one won't be wasting anything ever again anymore."

"…"

"What?"

Unnoticed by the group of three, the pages Inoue tore started to glow. Under his glowing crimson name, one final X appeared in a string of fire, finally completing the page.

"Hi…-san…"

"What's that? Speak fucking louder Dame-Tsuna."

Something like this shouldn't normally happen. The trio had a hunch that something wasn't right. What was this feeling? Since they entered the park and saw the small brunet, they were on the edge because of some unknown reason. Especially for Inoue, the way he had no idea why he had a bad feeling irritated him to no end. He hated abnormality. He hated this abnormality. He _despised this ab-_

"You should thank Hibari-san."

That despicable Dame-Tsuna replied to them for the first time in a calm and steady voice. There was not even an ounce of the usual hesitation. This time, it was both cold and warm, and it sent chill down Inoue's spine. He instinctively backed up when that Dame-Tsuna slowly stood up. (He faintly noticed his lackeys do the same, but he could care less at this moment.

"He," that Dame repeated, (Stop. _Stop! **Why doesn't he shut up?**_ ) "gave you more time. More chances. You should be grateful to Hibari-san for that. But in the end... What is meant to happen will happen regardless."

The small brunet finally raised his head, revealing two serene sunset eyes. And Inoue could get lost, just gazing into those eyes, as if his soul would get sucked into it at anytime. Perhaps they already did; at this point neither him nor his other two friends had already lost their ability to speak.

"These are the proof. All these sins that I took note... Bullying was just one small thing. You ruined so many other lives, stole so many people's happiness for your own selfish desires."

Before they knew, Sawada Tsunayoshi had shortened the distance between them, and had picked up the three sheets of paper he now held front of their faces. And endless number of Glowing X's burned into Inoue's vision— each of them a representation of every single wrong doing he had committed.

"I originally only wanted you to repent. I wanted to be forgiving…"

Sawada Tsunayoshi flashed a genuine and innocent smile.

"…But I guess, this is the end."

* * *

 

The sky was a beautiful shade of crimson, the sun slowly fading into the line of horizon. Slowly, the beautiful orange were swallowed by the darkness of the night, leaving only a faint light behind.

' _This was the park we once played in, Onii-chan._ '

A small brown haired teen stood in the middle of the deserted park. His orange eyes stared into the fire before him, where once three other human beings stood.

He knew that once the fire died down, nothing would remain of it, not even dust. Even the smell of burnt flesh will dissipate into the wind.

(After one, fire was the one who purified everything.)

He stood there, simply gazing at the flying sparks in a daze. It was only after a while brought up the three ripped pages of his notebook, with the fading X's and looked at the three crossed down names.

_Inoue Chikage_

_Murase Noriyori_

_Suzuki Seiki_

Tsuna's gaze followed the pages as they landed into the fire and was embraced by the flames. Tsuna threw one last glance at the dancing flames, knowing it will burn out soon with nothing to fuel it, before walking away. As his footsteps faded, the flames licked the faded X's, before forever erasing their existence, erasing the names.

Yes, Sawada Tsunayoshi _was **normal.**_

* * *

 

The next day, three people were missing from class I-A. Hushed rumors ran through the school: they were spirited away, they got into trouble and ran away from home. Some said they got punished for displeasing a certain prefect...

(Said-prefect only narrowed his eyes and bit everyone who spread rumors to death)

Eventually, like many of these rumors in Namimori, things were forgotten.

But was it surprising? Was there anyone who truly truly missed them? Was there anyone who cared about them? It did not even take long before the three _'friends'_ of Dame-Tsuna faded from I-A class's memory.

(The atmosphere in the classroom did feel strange for a while, especially around Tsuna.)

Later when other classmates mocked Tsuna, he just laughed it off uneasily.

He just smiled his normal smile; as if there had been nothing wrong, as if the disappearance of three people hasn't bothered him. As expected of Dame-Tsuna. After all, what else can go wrong when everything is so normal?

**But they were wrong.**

**Sawada Tsunayoshi wasn't normal.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prologue is pretty passive, but the story will pick up in the next chapters. Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 1: Thus breaks the monotomy

Like the other households in the neighborhood, the Sawada's lived in a small two storage house— small but comfortable, and definitely welcoming. It stood neatly among all the other houses, and fit perfectly in. 

In people's opinion, they were pretty much a normal family just like any other. Sure, they had their own share of quirks and characteristics that distinguished them from others, but who didn't? In a small place like Namimori, any "difference" was immediately subjected to gossips; any household had their rumors and the Sawada's were not an exception. 

 Although the word "family" implies that multiple people lived there, in truth only two people were ever around the Sawada house. The father of the family seemed to have disappeared years ago, leaving the mother and the son. Even before the disappearing act, it was obvious that the man was barely home. It was to the point where most people did not even remember the man's actual name, referring him by unwelcomed titles and nicknames in their gossips instead. 

Sawada Nana, the wife and mother of the family, was a young and loving housewife known for her kindness, her welcoming attitude, and for being oblivious to what was going on. She was even known in the area as the  _Yamato Nadeshiko —_ the perfect, beautiful and caring wife _—,_ although her reputation as an airhead is just as strong. (The proof, as the neighbors agreed, was that she must be both extremely  _forgiving_  and extremely  _dense_  to still love a man that was barely present). She was well loved by her neighbours, and had many friends among the other housewives. Her missing husband did not seem to faze her the least. It wasn't unusual that neighbours still looked at her with pity now and then (and if she did notice their pity, she never commented on it). 

Her son, though, was less popular. It was not exactly that he had a bad attitude, but he was commonly acknowledged as a useless boy who was way too clumsy for his own good. A "good boy" certainly (he was kind, that's for sure, unlike the rest of the boys his age —the old man in the corner commented), but he had a weak future doomed with failure. (Poor Nana-san, the people in the neighborhood whispered in their gossiping time, poor Nana-San who has to take care of such an useless son on top of a missing husband)

But no matter how much rumors there was about the Sawada’s, they were still a pretty normal household. After all, who didn’t have their own share of problems? 

Therefore—

It almost seemed like a pure coincidence that a dangerous individual stopped in front of the Sawada house. There was, after all, so many other ordinary houses in the neighbourhood. It must have been pure  _bad luck_  that they were chosen targets for the next chain of... "unfortunate events". 

But mysterious figure knew otherwise. He almost  _laughed_.  

The Sawada's were not like others. Not anymore. Not that they ever have been, but playing pretend must have been nice while it lasted, the shadow mused. 

No—it wasn’t coincidence. 

They were targets. 

He mentally went through all the details that were known about this family, from the biggest most remarkable stories to the idlest of gossips. He had prepared himself properly; having both gathered the information and the tools that will guarantee success for his mission. 

The shadow dropped a single sheet of paper— the  _bait_ — in their mailbox. It sat innocently among the other letters and flyers, as if it was not a carefully calculated piece of writing that aimed to lure its prey in. It was only a matter of time before his prey bites and any semblance of normalcy destroyed.  

Smirking, he tilted his hat towards the house — as if he was mockingly mourning the people inside — before disappearing into the shadows he came from. 

 

* * *

For Sawada Nana, it was another usual day. She had woken up early, feeling more refreshed than usual. She spent a few minutes to enjoy the chirping of the birds and growing sunlight peeking from her window. The content feeling she had did not leave her after she got dressed. Smiling and nodding happily, she decided that her mood was enough to warrant a delicious breakfast for her son to enjoy when he would wake up. She invested herself in preparing a huge feast, with omelette so and fried eggs and pancakes and hamburgers and cupcakes and— 

Unfortunately, while Nana was so determined to not forget any sort of food her son would want to eat, she forgot to wake up said-son. 

And that's how, a few hours later (at 8:13 am, if one paid attention), Sawada Tsunayoshi's ear-piercing scream ripped through the house.  

"I'M LAAATE!"

Tsuna smacked himself on the head, cursing as he dressed himself as quickly as possible. 

His half-asleep mind briefly questioned why his mother didn't bother wake him up the way she usually did. (She probably tried—his sleepy mind supplied, as he slept through it all. He can almost imagine his mother answering with a 'Tsu-kun, I did try, but someone wouldn't wake up no matter what I did!')

It was then that a sudden chill on his back caused him to freeze... unfortunately, since he was right in the middle of putting on his pants, he tripped and was sent tumbling on the floor. 

"What kind of unlucky day is this..." Tsuna groaned.                     

 He rolled painfully, before sitting up. Closing his eyes for a second and breathing deeply, he tried clearing his mind. No matter what kind of bad luck, it wouldn't do good if he got irritated. 

"... Fine! Guess it means facing Hibari-san then. I hope I don't get hit too hard." 

He resumed dressing up, this time in a slower pace so he wouldn't trip again and get more bruises. 

Losing track of time, Nana almost jumped when heavy footsteps were heard from up the stairs. (The key word being  _almost_ , because no one can surprise the Sawada wife, ever.) 

"Sorry mom, I'm late!" 

Nana only blinked once when a brown flash rushed towards the door, following by a loud slam. She stared for half a second, before sighing.

"Geez, Tsu-kun! I even prepared so much!" she pouted, before shrugging it off and hummed merrily, Tsuna all forgotten. 

"Well then." 

Pitch black eyes observed the running boy. He threw a side glance at the untouched mailbox. Eyes shadowed by his hat, he smirked. 

It looked like it will take some time for his targets to find the "bait" and bite. It was inevitable; only a matter of time. The mysterious identity lowered his hat and jumped off the tree he was hiding in.  

_'Guess I'll get more time to observe him.'_

 

* * *

 

Hibari Kyoya was an infamous figure. 

It was common knowledge to every inhabitant of Namimori that he valued discipline in the town above anything else and, ironically, would resort to extreme violence in order to keep the peace in Namimori. He also had a strange obsession with the town itself. (Some even say it was borderline feti— ... maybe it's best to not go there) 

Students of Nami-middle had much more constrains however. That was because, unfortunately for its students, Hibari Kyoya has chosen the school as his personal base. With the self-appointed head prefect ruling with an iron fist, none of the students dared to forget what Hibari Kyoya tolerated and what he did not. Delinquents were swiftly dealt with without mercy; even the normal students who had once upon a time broken small rules were not shown any mercy. (Secretly, people questioned who was the real "villain" — the few rule-breaking immature teenagers, or the tyrant that bite them to death?) Alas, one thing for sure, Hibari Kyoya was not to messed with. No one disobeys Hibari's rules, no matter who they are and what rule it is. 

And Hibari Kyoya hated students that dared to be late for school. 

The prefect frowned at the small cowering herbivore-like creature in front of him. It wasn't hard to figure out that the reason for his displeasure was that the "herbivore" in front of him— Sawada Tsunayoshi had once again broken the rules and was running late.  _Again_. 

"HIIIIIE! HIBARI-SAN!"

The shriek was annoying. He had heard it so many similar ones before, and each time the herbivores that dated emit that disgusting sound were removed from his sight (after he appropriately punished them for their insolence). They dared not be late again after that if they could help it. 

Sawada Tsunayoshi, however, was a repeat offender. Not only was he tainting the glorious record of the school (he arrived at 8:31—  _that was a full minute late_ ), his screams were also additionally annoying. If he didn't know better, he would say that the sole reason for the screams was to grate on his nerves. 

It was as if his screams had a language of its own, raising a neon sign with the "BASH MY HEAD" as if Sawada's Tsunayoshi wasn't annoying enough. He did know better, though. (That did not stop him from bashing Sawada Tsunayoshi's head, though) 

How can something look even more like a herbivore than all the other herbivores? The little brunet just had to prove time and time again that he was even more herbivore-like than all the other herbivores. 

No mercy to herbivores. 

"WAIT! WAIT! HIBARI-SAN! I'M S-SORRY! P-PLEASE! I PROMISE! I WON'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN."

Hibari's eyes narrowed slightly at the same familiar antics.

The way the eyes darted, the way the body trembled, how the head lowered. How the herbivore fidgeted how he hesitated, how he cowered...

_'...'_

Tonfas lowered slightly, grey-blue eyes focused on the cowering herbivore in front, observing the curious creature. 

After a few moments of awkward silence, and weirded out by the lack of response from someone who was usually very quick to make decisions,  Tsuna dared to take a peek at the prefect. 

Before the herbivorous creature even had the time to scream 'hiiie', he launched forward and slammed the spinning metal weapon right into the herbivore's stomach. Having no time to react, his victim received the full blow and flew a few meters away on the impact.

"Go to class now or you will get detention." 

Not caring anymore, the black haired teen simply walked away to bite some other unfortunate late-comers to death. He watched from the corner of the eye as the herbivore named Sawada Tsunayoshi struggled to get up and hurried to class.

In the corner of his eyes, he glanced at the one who dared to intrude on his territory, going as far on spying on the students of  _his_  school. He smirked. Whatever it was, he would just have to bite it to death. No one is allowed to intrude his territory. And it seemed like this time he will have fun.  

Far away, a figure pulled down his green binoculars. The mysterious shadow smirked at what he saw. The very interesting black haired youth aside, his target was exactly as described in his report. Frail, no backbones, and cowers at the smallest threat.

Too normal for his taste.

But that's what he was there for, right?

All the components were there. This school had its interesting characters. All he had to do was to add a little touch.  

Time to break the monotony.

 

* * *

 

Lunch break was a busy time in Nami-middle. The hallways were filled with people gathering and chatting with their friends, people running to be the first to line up for the cafeteria. 

Sasagawa Kyoko was among the people searching for their friends. The school beauty looked around frantically, barely paying attention to those who turned their head to catch a glimpse of her.  

With some effort, she had just managed to get rid of a bunch of insistent (fan)boys and was eager to spend some time without the useless flattery. With the recent appearance of this upperclassman who kept trying to flirt around her and would not understand what personal space meant, this "Mochida-senpai", she just  _needed_  a break from all the attention. 

Half lost in her thoughts (thinking of more excuses to evade Mochida), half looking around the student body (at everywhere except in front), she didn't notice the other student who was walking fast towards her. Unfortunately, the other student was not paying attention either.  

The next thing she knew, she was on the floor with a sharp pain blossoming on her head. 

"Ow..." 

Before she could come out of her confusion, a squeaky voice cut her off. 

"I-I'm sorry!" the voice apologized. Surprised in her half-daze, she looked up, and was immediately my with the sight of a small, messy haired brunet boy.

It didn't take her long to identify him as 'Dame-Tsuna' from her class. 

The small boy was obviously panicking, if the way he was fidgeting around said anything. 

"It's- it's my fault, I was day dreaming and I didn't look where I was going and I b-"

'Dame-Tsuna' looked up at her.  

Their eyes met for a second. The boy's huge caramel eyes widened for a second. Kyoko concluded he must have not expected to bump into her— the school's queen, of all people. The boy was quick to break eye contact, obviously too overwhelmed to keep it.  

"Don't worry, I'm alright," Kyoko replied, cutting off the boy's incessant rambling. Dealing with another apologizing fanboy was not on the list of things she want to take care of right now.  

Ignoring whatever the little brunet was clumsily trying to do, she stood up abruptly—

"Ow!" —and flinched again when she used her hands to support herself.

"A-are you o-okay?" Dame-Tsuna shyly asked. "Did you hurt your wrists?"

"It's fine, really."  

She wore her angelic smile (like it wasn't hurting like hell) — that usually did the trick into convincing any student to believe her. And because of that, Kyoko let her mind wander, subconsciously rubbing her wrists once more, mentally revising the list of places Hana could be. 

Suddenly, her mind stopped right in the middle of her train of thoughts. That's when she noticed a weird awkward silence from the boy that she instinctively knew shouldn't be there. Surprised, she looked up. Their gaze crossed again.  

His eyes...

For a split second, she felt herself bare, stripped one by one of the layers that usually covered her soul. It made her excessively afraid all of the sudden— all the lies and covers and deceits and masks fallen. And yet what peaked upon the innermost of her heart was a gaze so disinterested, so apathetic, like a mockery of everything she had delicately protected.  

And it made her feel vulnerable.  

And then, it was gone.  

She blinked in confusion, her mind not fast enough to catch up with the changes. It was a moment that felt like forever and yet so short that it felt surreal. Or perhaps it was; because the next second, logic took over. Looking at Dame-Tsuna staring at her with obvious worry in his eyes, it was obvious she was getting too paranoid.  

 _'Mochida-senpai must be driving me crazy,'_ Kyoko mentally sighed.  

"A-are you sure Sasagawa-san? I can help you to the infirmary! I..." 

"Yes, I'm really ok." What was Dame-Tsuna's last name again? It sounded kind of like hers... Sagasa?... Sa… 

"But..."

"Sawada-kun, right?"

Dame-Tsuna seemed surprised that she knew his name. "A-ah!... Yes!!" 

"Thank you for worrying, Sawada-kun. But I'll be alright, it's nothing much."

She tried to prove her point by waving her hand. Though the plan seemed to backfire because she had to bite her lips when she twisted it again. She could almost imagine the look of absolute panic on the smaller boy's face. 

"What is this?"

A familiar voice made Kyoko look up. The sight of one of the school's male idols Mochida standing there greeted her back. But instead of the usual flirty smile that charmed the whole female student population, his face was distorted in displeasure. 

Only then did Kyoko notice the crowd that started to gather around her and Tsuna, some whispering, some voicing out their displeasure out loud. 

The target of all of these negative emotion, Dame-Tsuna, flinched in fear. 

"Did that shrimp do something to you?" Mochida turned around and asked the school's female idol. Though was an undertone of anger, it was not directed at her. Instead, there was evident worry in his tone. 

Mochida was one of the numerous guys that have been pursuing her since the beginning of middle school. Contrary to popular belief, Kyoko was not as clueless about the male population's intentions as they liked to believe. Not that she minded, she could still respect the guys who had unrealistic, but still relatively innocent dreams of getting their perfect girl. However, Mochida was one of the people she held little regards for. He was a playboy. Hana had gathered tons of evidence of him toying with girls, discarding them quickly after he lost interest. Even now that he is trying to make Kyoko his girlfriend, he still had girls around whenever Kyoko wasn't there. It wasn't hard to understand that Kyoko's fame as the school idol quickly attracted him. After all, she would be the perfect trophy girlfriend to boost his reputation. 

This was why Kyoko couldn't care less about Mochida's attention. His thick, honeyed words that should have made any other girl fall for him only reminded the girl of slime crawling on her back. The sudden disgust made her flinch, just a little.  

Mochida must have noticed her flinch, because he turned towards Sawada, this time more angry than simply displeased.  

If it was even possible, Dame-Tsuna shrunk more unto himself. Kyoko couldn't help but to feel pity for the small brunet.  

"I'm alright, Mochida-senpai. We just—" A sudden idea struck her. Was Dame-Tsuna a good enough diversion? If Mochida’s reaction was any indication, he would be preoccupied by Dame-Tsuna a little while and leave her in peace, even just for a little while. Hana was certainly rubbing off on her. Kyoko quickly changed her wording before Mochida's noticed, "He just bumped into me. It's okay, I was careless."

Mochida's eyes narrowed. "He hurt you?" the older teen glared daggers at Dame-Tsuna. "How dare you hurt Kyoko?"

"HIIIIIIE!" 

"Tsk. You think you can get away for hurting a girl? The heavens may forgive someone like you, but I won't," the older teen gestured in a way that reminded Kyoko of a peacock spreading its feathers to make itself more impressive. "You should not even exist in the first place: you're nature's joke towards humanity. Losers like you taint our society. It's my duty to get rid of you trash."

With a scrowl plastered on his face, the kendo club captain pointed dangerously his wooden sword directly at Dame-Tsuna's neck. Said brunet fidgeted in place, looking ready to wet himself.

"I challenge you into a fight! Today after school, at the gymnasium. 3:30. Remember it. If you're even half of the wuss people think you are, you would come." And thus, Mochida walked away, never looking back at his future victim. 

Kyoko looked back and forth between Dame-Tsuna and where Mochida stood a minute ago. Maybe it was the good time to say something to her classmate? 

"I'm sorry, Sawada-kun," she started gently, tone apologetic. "It's because of me that Mochida-sempai misunderstood. I got you into trouble. Now you'll have to fight him when you don't know how to fight..."

"It-It's fine Sasagawa-san... I'm so-sorry... for b-bumping into... you. I-I better get g-going. Imsosorry!"

Kyoko could only stare as Dame-Tsuna hastily ran away. Then again, she noticed, he did seem to run away a lot. Poor guy just had to bump into her and accidentally hurt her right when Mochida was around the corner. 

Knowing Mochida, she couldn't stop the conflict anyway. So why not make good use of it? If he can divert Mochida's attention even just for a little while, it would be worth the trouble. Perhaps she should consider thanking Dame-Tsuna for getting her some peace and quiet. 

 

* * *

 

Waving his wooden sword in the air, a certain kendo club captain was thinking about what just happened.

Had be made the right choice? He can't be hesitating right now!

He could feel his heart rate increase. Just thinking back made his core flutter like beautiful butterflies amongst blossoming flowers of spring. Maybe this time...

How long has it been? How long has it been since he first fell in love? Four years? Six? It has been an eternity since he first laid his eyes on the girl named Sasagawa Kyoko and fell madly in love. 

She was different.

The other girls, they threw themselves at the first good-looking guy they could find. 

Back when he first met her, he was just like any average guy. The girls didn't spare a single glance at him. 

But Kyoko had been the one to bring out his confidence. 

He began to change. No, he began to grow into his potential. She changed for her— just so she would take an extra glance at her.  

An angelic smile warm enough to melt the ice in his heart. 

He soon began to change, just to please her, just to be different from the other guys, so she would look at him differently. 

He never had the courage to confess. No matter how more confident he grew with the people around him, he could never muster enough courage to confront her. 

Time passed. He moved to middle school. He grew up. 

He was convinced it was a puppy crush.  

He was handsome now. The girls that didn't notice him before, now began to gather. They giggled at his jokes and were charmed by his words. He was happy to entertain them. He started dating. He took full advantage of the good looks he didn't use to have. He dated girls, from the pretty ones to the not so pretty ones. He long lost count. 

None of them managed to make his heart flutter like Sasagawa Kyoko did.  

He just kept searching, hoping secretly to maybe meet his special someone. 

Then...

Then he saw her again. She also came to Nami-Middle. He hadn't thought he would still love her. Wasn't it a simple crush like he thought. 

A single smile was enough to break every part of him. 

He noticed she was way different from his groupies; his good looks didn't affect her. She didn't care about those at all.

Despite what everyone thinks, he was shy. He still couldn't confess to her. He tried, but could never say the right words at the crucial time. He made protecting Kyoko his duty so he would always watch over her. Actions spoke louder than words, right? Then he would show it to her with every fibre of his being. 

He didn't care about the other girls, even when his friends even presented him to a girl who had been prettier than Kyoko. His friends didn't get it. The others didn't matter. It had always been Kyoko and Kyoko alone. 

Even if she didn't realize it.

That's why when that trash dared hurt her, he saw red. 

Kyoko was too pure to blame anyone, but her eyes pleaded for protection. 

"I challenge you into a fight."

That's why he stood up and confronted Tsuna. 

How dare you hurt Kyoko? How dare you? 

**_"Do you love her?"_ **

He had heard a voice, a distant but close voice. It was at the same time grave and high pitched. He didn't know where it came from, but he knew it wasn't human. That voice—

**_"If you love her, I can make her yours."_ **

He didn't know why he trusted that voice. Was it desperation? Was it because it promised something he couldn't do by himself? He didn't know. It was ridiculous to listen to it. But at that moment—seeing Kyoko hurt... Any sense be dammed. He did as he was told, even if it means trusting it—that inhuman, that thing—, to that brat who dared to hurt his Kyoko.

He followed the voice's instructions to the letter. He hoped it would work—it just had to.

And he would win. He need to win. No matter what. Even if it means putting down his dignity, his reputation, his every being, he would win.

Because maybe, maybe, that way, she would finally look at him. Finally realize that he had been there the whole time. Maybe that angelic smile of hers would be directed at him for a second time.

Just like that first time when that bright smile changed his destiny...

Mochida closed his eyes and gathered all his resolution in one swing. This time, he would do it right, this time he would gather his courage, this time, he won't ran away. Dame-Tsuna better be prepared.

 

* * *

 

Tsuna closed his eyes and sighed. 

To think that so many would happen today. It was really getting on his nerves. He resisted against the urge to rub his temples to soothe out the upcoming headache. 

Since the morning, he had a hunch that some thing different was going to happen. He did not expect a fighting challenge slapping him in the face. Not when he was infamous for being weak and useless.  

Sure, it  _might_  have been time for change. He might even be craving for the change to come. But he had to be honest, he felt like he wasn't ready yet for whatever was coming his way. 

(Not that he would ever be ready)

He looked at the window in front of him. The boy bathroom window — too small for normal people to pass through but good enough for someone his size. 

It took him a while to get here. It took him ducking here and there, making use of his ability to blend in, before he was finally able to reach this desolate place.  

With the fight against Mochida blowing out of proportions (pretty much the whole school was aware of it), people would go crazy if they figured out he was finding his escape route. There was no way they would let one of the main actors of the "play" just leave without notice. After all, it's not everyday that the school's top male idol fought for the sake of the top female idol. Just like one of those romanticized stories in those soap dramas where the hero fights for the heroine.

Hero? Heroine? Too bad he was playing neither of those roles.

The small window led towards one if the narrow alleys of the school that no one, not even the delinquents, ever uses. 

Opening the window, he threw a quick glance to make sure that no one was there. 

"Escaping?" 

"Hiiiie!" 

Tsuna turned around but met head on with...

Nothing.

"Who's there? Who are you?" the brunet asked, voice contorting into a shriek. 

He looked around to search for the source, for any hidden place where it could come from. It was a useless search; the place was empty of people except for him. 

The cabinets' doors were wide open, making it impossible to hide anyone in them. Tsuna's gaze lingered on the sinks—and the very small place under it, before it quickly swayed all over the room. Logically, there was no other possible place to shield anything human sized. Of course, with the technology of today, there were so many ways to transmit sound from a distance. But something told him that there was no doubt _indeed_ a presence there.

"There's no use looking for me," the voice mocked at his futile attempt. "You're going to run away again, aren't you?"

Tsuna opened his mouth to retort, but was quickly cut off by the next sentence. 

" _Just like what you always do. Am I right, Dame-Tsuna?_ " 

There was a sharp intake of breath. It took a moment for Tsuna's mind to register that he was the one who made that noise.  

The brunet forced himself to swallow (or perhaps, he gulped in order to keep in his nervousness).  

"What do you know?" 

His voice was quieter — _weaker_. 

The voice chuckled. 

"I know, Dame-Tsuna, the pathetic loser who always ran away from everything. The no-good kid who can't be a man enough to stand for himself. So tell me, am I right?"

After a few second of silence, the reply from Tsuna came under the guise of a soft whisper.

"Some things are better off if you leave it alone." 

And Tsuna chose to end the conversation there. There wasn't anything else to say. He climbed on the window frame and was ready to jump off. However, the annoying presence, not pleased with the answer. 

"Oh really? Is that what you've being telling yourself?" The voice provoked.  

"Making an excuse to chicken out?"

"So useless."

"A coward."

"They call you Dame-Tsuna."

"Aren't they right?"

"What is the point of your existence?"

"Is escaping from reality the only thing you can do?"

Tsuna halted. "You-" 

"Did I hit a sore spot?" 

"..."

There was pause that left both Tsuna and the mysterious voice in an uncomfortable silence. 

A myriad of emotions surged inside Tsuna's heart.  

He didn't let any of it show on his face; but the voice must have noticed something because his next words were much gentler. Alluring. 

Almost comforting. 

"Why not act, just for once? To take things into your hands and make a change. Go back and face Mochida. Kyoko is counting on you."

 

* * *

 

 **After school, Namimori Middle School Gym.**  

"It's pass the time already!" 

"Tsk, I bet he ran away."

"Dame-Tsuna will always be Dame-Tsuna."

The gym after school was filled with people. After all, it wasn't everyday that the kendo club captain would go over and challenge a useless weak guy, the famous no-good loser of the school. The fight itself promised so much to laugh at! Who would pass the chance to watch Dame-Tsuna make a fool of himself? 

That is, if he came.

From the sidelines, Sasagawa Kyoko stood there uneasily. She almost felt kind of bad for that Dame-Tsuna.  

She really didn't want to be here. The presence of so many hypocrites who were there just to watch a poor guy being beaten up made her sick, especially when she is dragged into the whole affair.  

Like always, Kyoko's best friend Kurosawa Hana didn't miss the chance to tease her for it. 

"Mochida-Sempai is avenging the disrespect you were treated with this afternoon. He said, 'I won't forgive the guy who made Kyoko cry'." 

"I-I didn't cry!" the school-idol blushed, unhappy about the undignified accusation! 

Another of Kyoko's friends giggled. "Now, now, don't be hard on yourself!" 

A few others nodded while they also giggled.  

"No! That's... I'm just in the same leadership class as Mochida-senpai," Kyoko protested. 

 _'And it's not like I can help it if he's all around me all the time...'_  

Hana rolled her eyes. Really... She was the only one that understood what her best friend was thinking. Ever since they were kids, Kyoko had always hated how guys would surround her. Hana would help out with dispersing the boys using any kind of methods possible. So yes, Hana knew _exactly_ what the redhead was thinking. 

The long haired girl didn't exactly agree with Kyoko though. Using Dame-Tsuna as a shield might seem like a good idea at first, but there were great chances that it would backfire. Especially considering how unreliable Dame-Tsuna was, it was hard to believe he would succeed as a shield. 

_'But no use stopping her, huh? Oh well, this might be interesting.'_

Hana threw a quirky smile at Kyoko, 

"Guys belong to a guy's world. Let's just watch. Maybe they would prove themselves less the monkeys they are." 

Meanwhile, Mochida was really getting impatient. Dame-Tsuna wasn't coming. There was a big possibility that the trash escaped, but he couldn't afford that to happen. 

 _'I might get a forfeit win, but this way, the plan wouldn't work.'_  

And he needs it! He even prepared all the stuff like he was asked to! 

"Where is that useless brat? He's fucking late!" 

Sweat was starting to form under his heavy equipment, he couldn't wait to get it off. 

 _'Heavy, though not as heavy as...'_ He threw a quick glance at the armor that Dame-Tsuna would be wearing. 

At that moment the door burst open. 

As it was already rehearsed, the whole gym fell silent as they saw Dame-Tsuna walk in. Despite their thirst for a fight, many people didn't believe a school weakling would deliberately accept the challenge. Even Hana quirked a brow at that. 

Tsuna walked towards the gym. The sole attention of those that were present was was concentrated on him. The pressure of the crowd was overwhelming: it suddenly made Tsuna regret the decision of coming.

_'Why am I doing this?'_

A few seconds, the students recovered from their shock. Loud whispers busted from the crowd, along with a lot of finger pointing and a mix of worried glances and exited faced. 

Tsuna proceeded to ignore the unpleasant mockery.

"There you are, you fucking trash!"

Tsuna looked at Mochida. The upperclassman was dressed from head to toe in the traditional kendo tournament set, although he lacked a helmet. He looked half pissed, half pleased. He was brandishing a shinai in his right hand, pointing it at Tsuna as a declaration of war. 

"God may forgive a piece of shit like you, but I won't! That's why it's my duty to punish a trash like you. I shall smite you!"

The older guy gestured to the setting. A normal kendo match, Tsuna concluded; however, something was off...

"Don't worry," Mochida continued, a giant smirk now plastered on his face as if he was certain of his victory. "It's an easy duel that even an idiot like you can understand. The first who gets two points under ten minutes wins."

"Oh no!" Tsuna shrieked. 

The shriek certainly boosted Mochida's confidence even more. Dame-Tsuna's lack of confidence proved well that he was a novice in Kendo; and a novice wouldn't stand the slightest of chance against the captain of the kendo club.

Since Sawada came, everything would go just as planned. Now, to make sure the next stage is good... 

"But! Since you're _new_  to kendo, I’ll go easy on you. If you get an ippon (a point) off me, then you win! If you can't, then I win!" He smiled smugly at his own show of “sportsmanship”.  _'Now comes the crucial part of the plan! Kyoko, wait for me.'_

"But we can’t have a match without a reward. The prize is of course—" The kendoka pointed his sword at 'the prize'. "SASAGAWA KYOKO!"

"Pri-Prize?" Kyoko jumped at the outcome of the event.  

_'Wha-what? I- This shouldn't be happening! He wasn't supposed to! It was supposed to keep Mochida occupied for a moment! Not for me being the sacrifice!'_

"Tsk, what a jerk," beside Kyoko, Hana commented, almost feeling sorry for Mochida for the impeding doom in the form of an overprotective older brother he will soon receive. "And I thought all senpais were smart." 

Unluckily for Kyoko, some of Mochida's crazed fan girls were too caught up in the heat of the event. One reached out in an attempt to grab Kyoko so she wouldn't escape. 

"Watch it," Hana glared, unhappy. 

Hana must have scared her, because the fan girl was quick to back up. But it didn't stop the other fan girls from squeezing all around Kyoko, not leaving any space to escape. Hana sighed. These girls were obviously sporting some sort of hive mind, it would be hard to stop them at this point. She exchanged a glance with Kyoko. Logically speaking, there was very little chance that someone physically unfit could match up to Mochida. However at this point, it would be much more favourable for her best friend that Dame-Tsuna won the match. Not that it was possible, of course. The chances were minuscule at best. 

"HAHA! I wonder how he can refuse now!"

"Why's Mochida being so nice to him!? Just hit him already!"

"This is so exciting! FIIIIGHT!"

"Won't he just refuse?"

"What? He better be accepting the challenge! Or else!"

"Fine," Tsuna's words echoed in the gym room.

His answer gathered shouts of excitement from the crowd. "Way the go Dame-Tsuna!"  

"Bluffing, Sawada?" Mochida mocked. "Suit yourself. I'm still in lead in this battle. Even with a handicap, I won't loose to a prick like you." 

He gestured towards an armor lying on the ground. "This is your amour. We will start when you're ready." 

Tsuna walked towards the pile of clothes and reached for it. However, he skipped everything else but the sword which he would fight with. 

Mochida frowned at that, but chose to remain silent. 

The weak brunet gathered his courage, gripped the shinai with both hands and pointed the sword at Mochida's direction. "I-I'm ready."

"Pfff... HAHAHAHA! Only an idiot would run in without protection! Fine! If that's what you want!" He gave the referee a look.

The referee grinned, getting the silent message, before raising his arm. "REEEEADYYYY?- BATTLE!"

Without hesitating, Tsuna was the first to act. He rushed towards Mochida while raising his sword above his head, ready to react whenever he would get close enough. Mochida however only grinned at the wimpy amateurish attack.

"Is that all you got?"

The older teen dodged the weak swipe.

"Did you think I'd hold back? Eat this! You peon!"

Mochida raised his sword over his head and struck at the brunet. Seeing the attack, Tsuna shrieked and dived for protection. However, unfortunately for him, it still hit him on his shoulder. The heavy and painful impact made Tsuna drop on his but. The boy groaned loudly, but it was still covered by the roar of the crowd.

"HAHA! DAME-TSUNA IS SUCH A LOSER!" 

"KYAAA! GO MOCHIDA-SENPAI! SO QUICK TO GET HIS FIRST POINT!" 

Mochida looked smug.  

He could almost envision the wonderful result such a match would be in the end and how everyone would see his superiority. 

Taking advantage of Mochida's momentary lapse of attention, Tsuna got back on his feet.  

This match couldn't be won this head on. Anyone could tell: a weak and untrained guy like Tsuna cannot win against a practitioner by simply charging in. 

So Tsuna did the logical thing to do in this situation. 

He ran.

Another stunned silence.  

Then laughter erupted even louder than before. 

"HAHA! GOOD ONE! GOOD ONE!" 

"RUN TSUNA, RUN!!"

"Who ever run away in a kendo match?" 

"I HAVEN'T LAUGHED THIS HARD IN MONTHS! HAAAHAHAHA! GOOD THING I DIDN'T MISS THIS MATCH!!"

 While everyone else laughed, Kyoko watched with worry.  _'Come on Dame-Tsuna, you can do this! I don't want anything to do with Mochida, so you just win! I'd rather deal with you after this than dealing with that creep.'_  

Tsuna was too busy to pay any attention to the crowd. He knew he needed his whole concentration from this point on.  

He cannot afford to let anything slip. 

The mysterious voice was watching him.

The small teen wasn't running away from the match — on the contrary. He was simply dodging unnecessary hits. There was nine more minutes left; he had to score a believable point inside those nine minutes to win. 

Tsuna could feel the sweat soaking his clothing. 

Nine minutes was long; he would have preferred to end it as fast as possible because keeping up with all this was tiring. However, for the sake of his reputation, he needed to drag on. 

And thus, he ran as Mochida chased him around the gym.  

"Stop fleeing like a coward!" Mochida yelled. This whole circus had continued for another six minutes or so. His patience was at its limit, dammit!

_'This is no good. If this continues, even if the referee is at my side, I can't reach Sawada!'_

Tsuna just went faster, diving to the left to evade that blow Mochida wanted to swing. Two more minutes… 

Mochida panted. Something was wrong. Sawada was still running at the same pace, all the while he was getting slower. The weight of the armor didn't help either. If he doesn't finish this soon, he would lose face, even if he wins.

One more minute.  

 _'Time is up soon. I have to act.'_  

In a surprising motion, Tsuna made a 180 degree turn and pointed his sword at Mochida's direction. Stunned by the unexpected motion, Mochida's mind went blank for a split second. However, he didn't stop running toward the other and closed in. 

Tsuna steadied himself and stood in position to welcome the impact. This was a do-or-die situation. Either he would win, or Mochida would.

"LET'S END THIS SAWADA!"  

Using the momentum of his dash, Mochida raised his sword once again.

 _'This is it, huh?'_  Tsuna mused.

Everything was in slow motion to him. As Mochida took the step forward, as he did the same, as both swords were raised… 

He felt a pang of regret cross his heart. 

_'Why did I let some voice talk me into this? Oh... That's right...'_

 ...

**Twenty minutes ago; boys' washroom**

_"Oh really? Is that what you've being telling yourself? Making an excuse to chicken out?" the voice taunted._

_"YOU-"_

_Tsuna was furious, FURIOUS! Whoever this was didn't even know the slightest about him! How can they assume that even if they didn't know what they were thinking!_

_"Why not act, just for once? To take things into your hands and make a change. Go back and face Mochida. Kyoko is counting on you."_  

_Make a change? Take things into his own hands? He wanted to laugh. Counting on whom?_

_Those were just empty words._  

_No one counted on him. Even his own mother had long accepted —deemed— him to be the useless person he was. Counting? Who ever would?_

_He proceeded to ignore the voice of the unknown person and just jump out—_  

 _"...And do it so you have no regrets, Tsuna."_  

 

* * *

 

From afar, a figure was watching the events through the scope of his sniper riffle.  

"Looks like he's got some guts after all. But too bad that's as far as you go." 

He pointed his riffle right at the unsuspecting teen. Like a predator about to kill his prey. Like a grim reaper soon to harvest a poor human's soul. 

He smirked. 

Then fired. 

...

_'No regrets, huh?'_

Regrets — all at once,  _those words_  calmed down  _all of the surging emotions_  in Tsuna's heart. His mind was suddenly so  _unbelievably clear_ , so  _deadly sharp_  that he could almost  _perceive_  every single flutter of clothing and  _feel_ every sound ripple. 

 _Something_  awoke. 

Like a  _dormant_  predator finally opening its eyes.

Tsuna could hear the faint the whistling of a gun shot being fired from afar.

He closed his eyes at the upcoming blow.

And then...

**_"POINT!"_ **

A body dropped with a thud.

The whole gym went silent. 

The one left standing was still holding the sword down from the blow. He panted as he looked at his motionless opponent in front of him.

"THE VICTORY GOES TO— MOCHIDA!" 

Mochida stood there, a bit stunned. 

Of course everything had gone as predicted, but... 

"Ahaha! You won! That stupid weak guy didn't stand a chance against you!"

"Haha! Well, we have to give him some credit. I mean! He did last a minute longer than we thought! Not bad for a useless person like him! "

All around Mochida, people were congratulating him for wining the duel. However, none of it registered in Mochida's mind.  

His eyes searched frantically for her in the crowd — the only one who mattered in this duel, the reason why he set all this charade.  

His eyes immediately caught the sight of Kyoko. Mochida pushed away the crowd that surrounded him, until came face to face with Kyoko. 

Kyoko, who looked at Mochida with conflicted eyes, silently cursed the outcome of the duel. What did she expect? For the Dame-Tsuna that flunked all his tests, the Dame-Tsuna who failed gym class, to win against Mochida? 

As for Mochida... For so many years, he dreamed that he would hold the hands girl of his dreams. However, every time he tried to hold her hands, his heart would beat so fast that he didn't have the courage to do it. 

However— today, he did not hesitate.  

He looked at the most beautiful girl he had seen—his girlfriend—and gave a smile that was probably way too goofy (but he didn't care). 

He was happiest person on earth. 

It was worth it. 

However, he got the nagging feeling that something was wrong. However, it couldn't be right? Because everything had gone just the way he liked it ... He pushed away the feeling to the back of his mind. 

After all, Kyoko was his now.

Somewhere afar, a shadow lowered his hat over his eyes. 'How?' was the question that kept ringing in his mind.  

_How did Dame-Tsuna dodge the dying will bullet?_

 

* * *

 

**Evening, Sawada Residence.**

 

"Tsu-kun! I'm home!" 

Nana emitted a sigh of relief as she put her grocery bags down and bent over to take off her shoes. 

Tsuna, who was upstairs in his room, quickly hid the concealer in a pile of junk/paper/dirty clothes and flushed the blood stained tissues in the toilet. Knowing his mom must be tired from the bag carrying, he hurried downstairs to help his mom putting the groceries in place.

"Welcome home mom," he greeted with a wide smile.

"Oh my," Nana giggled as she gave a hug to her only son. "Thank you, Tsu-kun. You're really growing up, aren't you?"

Tsuna laughed while he put away the other stuff, being careful no to flinch as he strained his sore shoulder. The teen was glad that Nana seemed have not noticed any of his pain. 

He wouldn't want her to worry more than she did. 

"So, Tsu-kun, how was school today?"

"Ahaha, it was great as usual, mom."

His mother raised an inquiring eyebrow. 

"Oh really, now," she said, not buying it. She pulled a sheel of paper out of nowhere and pointed at the big red marks on it. "Great, huh? Sawada Tsunayoshi who got a 27 on his last math test?"

"I-I... What? Where did you get that, mom! I thought I hid them!" 

"Geez, Tsu-kun. If these are your so called 'greats', then you need to improve!" 

Tsuna looked away. Nana had always had the ability to make anyone feel like a badly behaved child. 

Suddenly, his mother's expression morphed from unhappy to that of excitement. No doubtly she remembered something that brought her back to her happy mood.  

Clapping her hand together, the mother giggled, "Oh, I just remembered! I got a flyer this morning about a home tutor and I gave a call!~ He should be here soon. Now I won't have to worry about your grades anymore! Now, go and get your stuff ready to meet your new teacher!"

Tsuna's jaw dropped. His protests were ignored by her mom who went back to Lala Land.

Knowing he can't convince his mother when she was in "airhead mode", he signed in defeat and climbed the painful stairs back to his room. 

It was an awful coincidence that he would get a tutor today of all day. The weird feeling he had gotten all morning had proven itself right. And the mysterious faceless voice that had been following him since the morning was the proof. Especially after said-voice offered him 'advice' on the fight against Mochida. Who in their right mind would meddle with a random kid's affairs like that? ( _He disregarded the gut feeling that supplied to him the answer; now was not the time_ ) He could literally feel the stranger's gaze poke holes in his back. 

But now... he couldn't feel the shadow's stare on his back anymore... 

Where had it gone? 

He almost didn't notice the sudden kick to his stomach that sent him flying across the room.

Then Tsuna crashed into the wall. 

He was thrown back with such force that the walls trembled upon impact, before he slid down to the floor. Coughing to breathe better, the brunet flinched at the newly made bruise on his back. It was an extra bruise added to the already existing one from the fight against Mochida; he inwardly cursed his luck.  

Today really wasn't going well. It wasn't at all like he planned on. Why did everything suddenly go wrong? What happened so everything went differently from normal?

It started from...

He turned back, and looked at the person standing in his room. 

It was the same mysterious person that had been following him since the morning.  

Tsuna's eyes were wide; he was not expecting the sight before him. The mismatch was so pronounced that it would have been funny to anyone else seeing it, but to Tsuna, it was a morbid sight that sent shivers down his spinel The sinister dark aura that had poked his back suggested the presence of a fully capable and dangerous adult. However, the person...  _the baby_  in front of him was  _barely tall enough to reach his knees_. 

The infant wore a black and expensive-looking customized suit, with a matching fedora decorated by an orange ribbon. A green lizard-like creature rested on top of the rim of his hat, with big yellow eyes that were too disturbingly cute. The baby's ridiculously long and curly side burns stood out like a sore thumb. The only thing  _normal_  about this baby was probably the bright yellow pacifier he wore around his neck.

The infant looked up. Two huge,  _pitch black_ , innocent eyes stared right into his. 

But soon a feeling dread crawled up in his throat as he stared in  _horror_  at what those black pits truly meant—

Bottomless abyss that already swallowed too many innocent lives. 

And today, he was the prey. 

"I have to say, Dame-Tsuna. You impressed me today on your fight with Mochida." The infant's gaze up and down, as if he was examining a really exotic animal, then mocked, "However, you still have a lot to learn before you become a suitable Mafia boss."

As a reflex, the middle-school student flinched and moved backwards, back stumbling to the wall. 

"Wha- HIIIIE! Wh-Why i-is a baby here?" 

The infant was unfazed by the question, as if he was used to getting this kind of confused reaction. Or, perhaps he knew that Tsuna already had an answer to his own question. 

Instead, without Tsuna having time to react, the infant simply pointed his gun at the brunet's head. 

"Ciaossu. I'm your new home tutor from Italy and I'll be teaching you the ways of a mafia boss. My name—"

And the cute, innocent baby-smile turned into a smirk as the safety of the gun clicked off.

"— ** _is Reborn_**."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little note, like what I wrote in the A/N in the original chapter, I consider the manga as more canon than the anime (being the source material and all). Thus, although Leon can still change itself into one, Reborn's gun is not Leon. 
> 
> This chapter is less dark than the prologue. You can't always have dark and edgy stuff ha. 
> 
>  
> 
> I also let Mochida win over Tsuna. Because really, how many times have you seen in fanfics where Tsuna actually loses at them? You can't really call this a proper fight, since all Tsuna did was basically run around. I hope I'll deliver a good fight scene in the future when there is actual fighting, though. 
> 
> I read my first version and thought that the interactions were a bit childish. Kyoko ended up sounding a bit too bitchy when I attempted to add more personality into her, and it was nowhere close my intention to make a Kyoko-bashing story. I rounded her reactions a little here so things go smoother. Mochida will also be taking a slightly more important part than the original. Like these characters or hate them; it's all your choice, but I hope I gave you more complicated reasons to love/hate them. 
> 
> The same will probably go for most of the characters in this story. I want to keep all the characters "in character" on the surface, but give them much more complicated thoughts hidden behind it. 
> 
> Anyway, if you liked it, leave a review! Every time I thought of just letting things be, it was reading the comments that made me decide to continue the story. Even just a word or two make author happy! ;>


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